Chapter 1（1）

第一章

They had marched more than thirty kilometres since dawn, along the white, hot road where occasional thickets of trees threw a moment of shade, then out into the glare again. On either hand, the valley, wide and shallow, glittered with heat; dark green patches of rye, pale young corn, fallow and meadow and black pine woods spread in a dull, hot diagram under a glistening sky. But right in front the mountains ranged across, pale blue and very still, snow gleaming gently out of the deep atmosphere. And towards the mountains, on and on, the regiment marched between the rye fields and the meadows, between the scraggy fruit trees set regularly on either side the high road. The burnished, dark green rye threw off a suffocating heat, the mountains drew gradually nearer and more distinct. While the feet of the soldiers grew hotter, sweat ran through their hair under their helmets, and their knapsacks could burn no more in contact with their shoulders, but seemed instead to give off a cold, prickly sensation.

自黎明开始，他们沿着白晃晃的、炽热的大路已经行进了三十多公里。一路上他们偶有享受着灌木丛林投下的片刻阴凉，接着便又走进刺眼的阳光里了。大路两旁的山谷绵延和缓，在阳光的炙烤下闪闪发光。几片深绿色的黑麦田、浅色的嫩玉米田、休耕地、草地和黑松林，在目眩的天空下延伸开来，呈现出一幅单调而又令人燥热的图画。但是在正前方，山岭绵延不断，透露出浅淡的蓝色，十分静谧。白雪在深邃的背景下散发出轻柔的光辉。这支步兵团朝着群山的方向前行，片刻不停。他们走过黑麦田和草地，穿过大路两旁栽种整齐的、光秃秃的果林。深绿色的黑麦闪闪发光，散发出一阵令人窒息的热气。群山逐渐靠近，愈发清晰可见。士兵们的脚越走越热，汗水顺着压在头盔下的头发流下。他们的背包与肩膀摩擦过多，已不再感到灼热，反而是一阵冰凉刺骨了。

He walked on and on in silence, staring at the mountains ahead, that rose sheer out of the land, and stood fold behind fold, half earth, half heaven, the heaven, the barrier with slits of soft snow, in the pale, bluish peaks.

他默默地向前走着，紧紧盯着前方拔地而起的山峦，一座接着一座，一半是地，一半是天。天空在淡蓝的山峰的映衬下，像是一道有着柔软积雪的裂缝的屏障。

He could now walk almost without pain. At the start, he had determined not to limp. It had made him sick to take the first steps, and during the first mile or so, he had compressed his breath, and the cold drops of sweat had stood on his forehead. But he had walked it off. What were they after all but bruises! He had looked at them, as he was getting up: deep bruises on the backs of his thighs. And since he had made his first step in the morning, he had been conscious of them, till now he had a tight, hot place in his chest, with suppressing the pain, and holding himself in. There seemed no air when he breathed. But he walked almost lightly.

现在，他走起来已几乎感觉不到疼痛了。出发时，他便下决心不能一瘸一拐地走。迈出的头几步就让他疼得够呛。在走头一英里左右的时候，他一直屏住呼吸，冷汗沁满了他的额头。但是走着走着就不疼了。它们不过是几处瘀伤而已！起床时，他就看到了：大腿后侧有几处严重的瘀伤。清晨踏出第一步时，他便发现这些瘀伤了。一路上他强忍着疼痛，努力不表现出痛苦，结果现在胸口又紧又热。他仿佛已经呼吸不到空气了。但他走得倒相当轻快了。

The Captain's hand had trembled at taking his coffee at dawn: his orderly saw it again. And he saw the fine figure of the Captain wheeling on horseback at the farm—house ahead, a handsome figure in pale blue uniform with facings of scarlet, and the metal gleaming on the black helmet and the sword—scabbard, and dark streaks of sweat coming on the silky bay horse. The orderly felt he was connected with that figure moving so suddenly on horseback: he followed it like a shadow, mute and inevitable and damned by it. And the officer was always aware of the tramp of the company behind, the march of his orderly among the men.

清晨，上尉端咖啡时手在颤抖：他的勤务兵又看到这种情形了。他看到在前方农舍边，身形矫健的上尉跨在马背上前行。他体态优美，穿着镶有紫红色装饰的浅蓝色制服，黑色头盔和剑鞘散发着金属的光泽，光滑的枣红马身上印着一道道深色的汗迹。勤务兵感觉他与马背上那个剧烈晃动的身影是连接在一起的：他像个影子一样跟随着，默不作声，身不由己，还要被咒骂。这位军官也时刻留意着身后那对人沉重的脚步声，知道他的勤务兵也在行进的队伍中。

The Captain was a tall man of about forty, grey at the temples. He had a handsome, finely knit figure, and was one of the best horsemen in the West. His orderly, having to rub him down, admired the amazing riding—muscles of his loins.

上尉身材高大，大约40岁，两鬓斑白。他身姿挺拔，身材匀称，是西部最好的骑手之一。他的勤务兵，奉命给他擦拭身体，对他骑马练就的腰腹上紧实的肌肉羡煞不已。

For the rest, the orderly scarcely noticed the officer any more than he noticed himself. It was rarely he saw his master's face: he did not look at it. The Captain had reddish—brown, stiff hair, that he wore short upon his skull. His moustache was also cut short and bristly over a full, brutal mouth. His face was rather rugged, the cheeks thin. Perhaps the man was the more handsome for the deep lines in his face, the irritable tension of his brow, which gave him the look of a man who fights with life. His fair eyebrows stood bushy over light blue eyes that were always flashing with cold fire.

但是军官其他的部位，勤务兵并不怎么在意，就跟他不在意自己一样。他很少看到他上司的脸：他也从来没看过。上尉有着一头红棕色的短发，硬邦邦地竖在脑袋上。他的胡须也修剪得又短又硬，分布在那张饱满、粗犷的嘴上。他面孔刚毅，脸颊消瘦。或许，正是他脸上的深深的皱纹和眉宇间显露出的易躁神情，使他看上去更为英俊。这种易躁神情反而让人觉得他是一个与生活抗争的人。整齐浓密的眉毛下，那双浅蓝色的眼睛时刻喷射着冰冷的火焰。

He was a Prussian aristocrat, haughty and overbearing. But his mother had been a Polish Countess. Having made too many gambling debts when he was young, he had ruined his prospects in the Army, and remained an infantry captain. He had never married: his position did not allow of it, and no woman had ever moved him to it. His time he spent riding—occasionally he rode one of his own horses at the races—and at the officers' club. Now and then he took himself a mistress. But after such an event, he returned to duty with his brow still more tense, his eyes still more hostile and irritable. With the men, however, he was merely impersonal, though a devil when roused; so that, on the whole, they feared him, but had no great aversion from him. They accepted him as the inevitable.

他是一位普鲁士贵族，桀骜不驯，飞扬跋扈。但他的母亲曾是一名波兰女伯爵。年轻时他欠了太多赌债，自毁了在部队中的大好前程，至今仍是一名步兵团上尉。他从未婚娶：他的职位不允许结婚，而且他也没遇到过想要与之结婚的女人。他把时间都花在了骑马上——偶尔骑着他的某匹马参加比赛——或是混迹在军官俱乐部里。时不时他会给自己找个情妇。但是一段风流韵事过后，当他重返军营，眉头却拧得更紧了，眼里的敌意和怒气更加深了。然而，对士兵们来说，他只是有些冷淡无情，可一旦被惹怒，他体内的魔鬼便会被唤醒。总的来说，大家都畏惧他，但也不是十分厌恶。大家都迫于无奈地接受了他。

To his orderly he was at first cold and just and indifferent: he did not fuss over trifles. So that his servant knew practically nothing about him, except just what orders he would give, and how he wanted them obeyed. That was quite simple. Then the change gradually came.

起初他对他的勤务兵冷酷、公正、淡漠：他从不为琐事大动干戈。因此他的勤务兵实际上对他也所知甚少，只知道他会下什么样的命令，他希望大家怎样服从他。那还是相当简单的。可后来逐渐出现了变化。

The orderly was a youth of about twenty—two, of medium height, and well built. He had strong, heavy limbs, was swarthy, with a soft, black, young moustache. There was something altogether warm and young about him. He had firmly marked eyebrows over dark, expressionless eyes, that seemed never to have thought, only to have received life direct through his senses, and acted straight from instinct.

勤务兵是位20岁左右的小伙子，中等个头，身体健硕。他的四肢粗壮有力，皮肤黝黑，唇上长着黑茸茸的小胡子。他全身散发着一股热情和青春的气息。轮廓分明的眉毛下面是一对黑色的眼睛，毫无神采，似乎从来没思考过，只是依靠他的感觉生活着，完全凭着本能行事。

Gradually the officer had become aware of his servant's young, vigorous, unconscious presence about him. He could not get away from the sense of the youth's person, while he was in attendance. It was like a warm flame upon the older man's tense, rigid body, that had become almost unliving, fixed. There was something so free and self—contained about him, and something in the young fellow's movement, that made the officer aware of him. And this irritated the Prussian. He did not choose to be touched into life by his servant. He might easily have changed his man, but he did not. He now very rarely looked direct at his orderly, but kept his face averted, as if to avoid seeing him. And yet as the young soldier moved unthinking about the apartment, the elder watched him, and would notice the movement of his strong young shoulders under the blue cloth, the bend of his neck. And it irritated him. To see the soldier's young, brown, shapely peasant's hand grasp the loaf or the wine—bottle sent a flash of hate or of anger through the elder man's blood. It was not that the youth was clumsy: it was rather the blind, instinctive sureness of movement of an unhampered young animal that irritated the officer to such a degree.

逐渐地，军官开始觉察到这个充满年轻活力、无忧无虑的勤务兵的存在。勤务兵在场时，他便无法将注意力从这位年轻人身上移开。这仿佛像是在这位长者僵硬紧绷、几无生气的身体里燃起一道温暖的火焰。他身上散发出一种自由和独立气息，同时这位年轻勤务兵的行为举止中流露出的某种特质吸引了军官的注意。但这却惹恼了这位普鲁士人。他可不想由他的勤务兵来引领他体味生活。他其实可以随便换一个勤务兵，可他没这么做。他现在很少直接看他的勤务兵，而是将脸转向别处，像是为了避免看见他。然而，当这位年轻的士兵在公寓里随意走动时，他会看着他，注视着年轻人那蓝色布料下摆动着的结实肩头，还有那颈部的曲线。这惹恼了他。看到士兵那双年轻的、深棕色的、好看的农民的手抓着面包或酒瓶，这位长者的血液中便会流过一股愤恨或怒气。并非因为这个年轻人动作笨拙，而是一只无拘无束的幼兽在行动中显露出的盲目和出于本能的自信，让军官恼怒不已。

Once, when a bottle of wine had gone over, and the red gushed out on to the tablecloth, the officer had started up with an oath, and his eyes, bluey like fire, had held those of the confused youth for a moment. It was a shock for the young soldier. He felt something sink deeper, deeper into his soul, where nothing had ever gone before. It left him rather blank and wondering. Some of his natural completeness in himself was gone, a little uneasiness took its place. And from that time an undiscovered feeling had held between the two men.

有一次，年轻人打翻了一瓶红酒，红色的液体洒到了桌布上，军官破口大骂。他的双眼，仿佛蓝色的火焰，将年轻人困惑的眼神裹挟了片刻。年轻的士兵吓得惊慌失措。他觉得什么东西在下沉，沉入了他的灵魂深处，从未被触碰过的地方。这让他茫然不知所措。他体内与生俱来的某些完整的东西丧失了，取而代之的是些许不安。自此，这两个男人之间潜藏着一种微妙的感情。

Henceforward the orderly was afraid of really meeting his master. His subconsciousness remembered those steely blue eyes and the harsh brows, and did not intend to meet them again. So he always stared past his master, and avoided him. Also, in a little anxiety, he waited for the three months to have gone, when his time would be up. He began to feel a constraint in the Captain's presence, and the soldier even more than the officer wanted to be left alone, in his neutrality as servant.

从那以后，勤务兵便害怕与他的上司正面相见。他在潜意识中记着那对坚毅的蓝眼睛和粗糙的浓眉，并决定再也不去面对它们。于是他总是不直视他的主人，并刻意躲着他。同时，他略微焦急地等着三个月赶快过去，那时他的任务就结束了。他开始感到，只要上尉在场，便会产生一种拘束感，这位士兵比军官更渴望独处，仅仅当一名勤务兵。

He had served the Captain for more than a year, and knew his duty. This he performed easily, as if it were natural to him. The officer and his commands he took for granted, as he took the sun and the rain, and he served as a matter of course. It did not implicate him personally.

他已经服侍上尉一年多了，也清楚自己的职责。这对他来说轻而易举，好像他生来就是做这些的。他将军官和他的命令看作天经地义的事，就像出太阳和下雨也是理所当然的一样，他尽忠职守，毫无怨言。对他个人来说，其中没有特别寓意。

But now if he were going to be forced into a personal interchange with his master he would be like a wild thing caught, he felt he must get away.

但是现在如果迫使他与上司正面交流，他会像一只被俘的野兽，觉得自己必须挣脱。

But the influence of the young soldier's being had penetrated through the officer's stiffened discipline, and perturbed the man in him. He, however, was a gentleman, with long, fine hands and cultivated movements, and was not going to allow such a thing as the stirring of his innate self. He was a man of passionate temper, who had always kept himself suppressed. Occasionally there had been a duel, an outburst before the soldiers. He knew himself to be always on the point of breaking out. But he kept himself hard to the idea of the Service. Whereas the young soldier seemed to live out his warm, full nature, to give it off in his very movements, which had a certain zest, such as wild animals have in free movement. And this irritated the officer more and more.

但是这位年轻士兵的存在已经动摇了军官严苛的戒律，并搅动着他的内心。然而，他是一位绅士，拥有一双修长、匀称的双手；他行为端正、举止优雅，绝不容许这种事情惊扰他内心中的真实自我。他是个脾气暴躁的人，不过总在努力克制着自己罢了。士兵之间偶尔会产生争斗，他也会在士兵们面前宣泄情绪。他知道自己总是处于爆发的边缘。但是考虑到身处军营，他必须努力克制自己。可年轻士兵的一举一动无不展现出他的热情和浑然天性，流露出某种热情，就像自由自在的野兽一样。这使得军官愈发恼怒。

In spite of himself, the Captain could not regain his neutrality of feeling towards his orderly. Nor could he leave the man alone. In spite of himself, he watched him, gave him sharp orders, tried to take up as much of his time as possible. Sometimes he flew into a rage with the young soldier, and bullied him. Then the orderly shut himself off, as it were out of earshot, and waited, with sullen, flushed face, for the end of the noise. The words never pierced to his intelligence, he made himself, protectively, impervious to the feelings of his master.

不知不觉地，上尉无法再对他的勤务兵保持普通的情感了。他也不能让这个男人独自呆着。不自觉地，他盯着他，对他发出苛刻的命令，试图尽可能多地占用他的时间。有时他会对这个年轻的士兵大发雷霆，还欺辱他。勤务兵此时会将自己与外界隔离，装作听不见，涨红着脸，一副郁郁寡欢的样子，等待着喧嚣停止。这些话从没有刺中过他的心灵，出于自我保护，他不为主人情绪所影响。

He had a scar on his left thumb, a deep seam going across the knuckle. The officer had long suffered from it, and wanted to do something to it. Still it was there, ugly and brutal on the young, brown hand. At last the Captain's reserve gave way. One day, as the orderly was smoothing out the tablecloth, the officer pinned down his thumb with a pencil, asking:

他的左手拇指上有一道伤疤，缝线深深地绕在指关节上。军官被这道疤痕折磨得够久了，一直想对它做点儿什么。可它总是在那里，在年轻人棕色的手上，丑陋又粗鄙。终于，上尉按捺不住了。一天，勤务兵正在整理桌布，军官用一支铅笔顶住他的拇指，问道：

"How did you come by that? "

“那是怎么弄的？”

The young man winced and drew back at attention.

年轻人的脸抽搐了一下，退后立正。

"A wood axe, Herr Hauptmann, " he answered.

“劈柴时斧子砍的，上尉。” 他答道。

The officer waited for further explanation. None came. The orderly went about his duties. The elder man was sullenly angry. His servant avoided him. And the next day he had to use all his will—power to avoid seeing the scarred thumb. He wanted to get hold of it and—A hot flame ran in his blood.

军官等着他继续解释。可没了后文。勤务兵继续干他的活去了。年长者闷闷不乐，十分气愤。他的勤务兵躲着他。第二天他不得不费尽所有的意念，不去瞧那带着伤疤的拇指。他想要握住那拇指——一股炙热的火焰在他的血脉中燃烧。

He knew his servant would soon be free, and would be glad. As yet, the soldier had held himself off from the elder man. The Captain grew madly irritable. He could not rest when the soldier was away, and when he was present, he glared at him with tormented eyes. He hated those fine, black brows over the unmeaning, dark eyes, he was infuriated by the free movement of the handsome limbs, which no military discipline could make stiff. And he became harsh and cruelly bullying, using contempt and satire. The young soldier only grew more mute and expressionless.

他知道他的勤务兵很快便会获得自由。他那时定会很高兴。士兵仍然刻意回避着年长者。上尉恼羞成怒了。士兵不在时，他坐立难安；士兵在场时，他那备受煎熬的双眼又死死盯着他。他痛恨那对长在无神的黑色眼睛上好看的黑眉毛，士兵健硕的四肢和灵活的动作也使他愤怒，任何军纪都无法使肢体如此挺拔。他变本加厉地欺辱他，时而蔑视，时而讥讽。年轻士兵却变得更加沉默寡言，面无表情。

"What cattle were you bred by, that you can't keep straight eyes? Look me in the eyes when I speak to you. "

“你是吃什么长大的，为什么不能正眼看人？我跟你讲话的时候看着我的眼睛。”

And the soldier turned his dark eyes to the other's face, but there was no sight in them: he stared with the slightest possible cast, holding back his sight, perceiving the blue of his master's eyes, but receiving no look from them. And the elder man went pale, and his reddish eyebrows twitched. He gave his order, barrenly.

士兵将黑色的双眼投向对方的脸，但是眼中没有任何神采：他尽可能地只是盯着他，没有眼神流露，虽然他觉察到主人蓝色的双眼，但并没有真正与之对视。年长者的脸色转为苍白，泛红的眉毛抽搐着。他只得随便下了些毫无意义的命令。

Once he flung a heavy military glove into the young soldier's face. Then he had the satisfaction of seeing the black eyes flare up into his own, like a blaze when straw is thrown on a fire. And he had laughed with a little tremor and a sneer.

有一次，他将一只厚重的军用手套甩到了年轻士兵的脸上。看到那黑色双眼愤怒地瞪着自己的眼睛，他获得了一种满足感，仿佛把稻草投进火中而激起火苗一般。他微微颤抖地笑着，略带嘲讽。

But there were only two months more. The youth instinctively tried to keep himself intact: he tried to serve the officer as if the latter were an abstract authority and not a man. All his instinct was to avoid personal contact, even definite hate. But in spite of himself the hate grew, responsive to the officer's passion. However, he put it in the background. When he had left the Army he could dare acknowledge it. By nature he was active, and had many friends. He thought what amazing good fellows they were. But, without knowing it, he was alone. Now this solitariness was intensified. It would carry him through his term. But the officer seemed to be going irritably insane, and the youth was deeply frightened.

但是只剩两个月了。年轻人出于本能地保持无动于衷：他努力地服侍着军官，就好像后者并不是一个人，而是一个抽象的权威。他以所有的直觉来尽力避免与之有私下接触，甚至避免产生明显的怨恨。但是不自觉地，由于军官的坏脾气，怨恨在他体内滋生着。不过，他将怨恨隐藏在深处。等他退伍后，便可大胆地承认了。他生性活泼，朋友很多。他想，他们都是多么好的伙伴啊。但是，不自觉地，他就变得形单影只。现在这种孤独感变得更加强烈。这种感觉会在他服役期间一直伴随他。可是军官似乎变得丧心病狂了，这让年轻人深感恐惧。

The soldier had a sweetheart, a girl from the mountains, independent and primitive. The two walked together, rather silently. He went with her, not to talk, but to have his arm round her, and for the physical contact. This eased him, made it easier for him to ignore the Captain; for he could rest with her held fast against his chest. And she, in some unspoken fashion, was there for him. They loved each other.